Better Then Alright!

Its true what they say about the sunshine and rainbows-after the storm, they come, and in the long run, you remember and cherish the good times ten times more then the bad ones. Life is good. Testimonies grow. People surprise you, often in good ways. And I guess we just have to take things with a grain of salt.

As I said in my last post, we have just signed a new contract to a new apartment. It came after a lot of thought and research-ultimately, this new place is a lot bigger, with a lot of advantages we need. For example, although there are only two of us, I rarely get to see Lester because there is no room for both of us to do the things we need, like homework, cooking and cleaning in our current apartment. Now that we will have two bedrooms, he can have an office of sorts, and we can also have room to put guests when they come. The kitchens are AMAZING in our new place-brand new with I think granite countertops and nicely tiled floors. We will no longer have to deal with ppl having to go through our bedroom to get to the bathroom, and get this-all the floors are heated, and the walls are insulated to be soundproof. This is something that anyone who has ever lived in University Courtyard will tell you is a major thing haha. Apart from all these things, they are cheaper monthly. The only downside is that they are a bit farther [but now that we have a car that is really a big deal..] and they are unfurnished. After doing the math, we realized that even with the initial investment in getting furniture, it will be cheaper for us to move to this new place and buy our own stuff as opposed to staying here. Plus, our lives are pretty fluid for the next several years, so we can bring our furniture with us.

After making this decision, my parents told us that they had gotten some new hand-me-down furniture so we can have their old couch. My dad has a business trip in Boise next weekend as well, and if he has room, he is going to try to get it up here for us. Isn’t that awesome? I have to admit, all of my friends seem to have the ability to see there parents fairly often-I don’t and so regardless of whether or not he can bring the furniture, I can’t wait to see him. It’s funny to think about when I was a teen and my Dad and I were constantly butting heads-but now when we talk on the phone, we laugh constantly, and I realize how much the same we are. I honestly cried a teeny bit our of excitement when he said he was coming. Like I said, its been hard here and this is the longest I’ve been away, and I feel like this is Heavenly Father sending me just a little tender mercy of getting to be with my Dad-even if its only for a few hours-to tide me through till we are all together again. Lester is pretty excited to.

Anyways, back to furniture-we already have picked out our new table and gotten a new mattress that was on a HUGE sale and our backs our thanking us already! That night, we got hang out with some friends, and we met with our new Bishop to get our new callings-he is great and we are excited. Lester and I have switched places in that I have a small calling [RS Primary Specialist] and he has a bigger one in the Sunday school presidency. Of course, I told the bishop if he needed help with anything to let me know, and I was immediately put in charge of the ice cream social/ward temple trip that was tuesday. as in this tuesday. It was a lot of work, but you know what-it allowed me to get to know some people, and lets face it, sometimes its nice to be needed. After church on Sunday, we had even more fun with our friends Bobby and Alana who we’ve been wanting to hang out with for quite a while. The weather has been gorgeous, so we had a picnic lunch, and then played a ton of games. It was so fun! Then we got even more social time and played a few games with the Morco’s. Monday night our Bishop had us over for an AWESOME steak and fish dinner-let’s be honest, I can cook pretty well, but we don’t usually get to eat quality meat let alone grill it. He even caught the fish himself! He is truly awesome and I look forward to our short time in this ward. Tonight was the ward temple trip and we had an awesome turn out-I had passed out flyers and gotten stuff for both banana splits and brownie sundaes, but I was still nervous. But a total of 26 couples showed! I was so happy! And guess what? My math class for tomorrow has been canceled!

So, sorry this post is so long-but hey, I think this is more therapeutic for me then anyone who actually sits through and reads it all. But in all seriousness-thank you for your prayers. They have been felt and appreciated and I can’t tell you what it has meant to me. Hope all is well with you guys! Until next time!

PS: I promise I will start posting new pics again soon! Until then enjoy these oldies but goodies!

I can't wait for him to visit!

I just love him thats all.

This is our awesome friends Alana and Bobbie who we picniced with Sunday.

Again, an old one of me and Alana. I was gonna post another one, but in all of them were doing something ridiculous and we look slightly embarrasing. Hah, but those are the best kind of friendships! So here is one where we look relatively normal-flourescent white, but fairly normal haha. [it was winter then..]

Snap Out of It!

I don't want to be one of those people who constantly uses this thing as a way to complain, but I'm just gonna say it. This semester is putting both me and Lester through the ringer. I don't know if its bc its my last, bc there are so many credit/classes, bc this our third semester in a row, or bc being here for so long is making us poorer and poorer by the second, but ultimately its just not the summer I was expecting.

Lester says to anticipate grad school to be like this-and I just feel like crying every time he says this, so instead I try to just picture the regular hours and good salary, home and family we will have as a result of these times now and in dreaded grad school. Hopefully we'll be somewhere closer to my family then. We'll see. That's all. I feel stupid saying this since everything is in reality not that bad and we are very blessed, but keep us in your prayers right now if you think of it OK? Because right now I am teetering dangerously close to the edge of insanity and even more then the current daily emotion breakdowns. I'm just not good at being alone-it depressed me. I need to be better at this. Mission impossible? Maybe. We'll see. Anywho. Hope all is well with you all! I promise next post will be either happy or funny. It has to be. For my sake and for yours.

PS: On the up and up though we signed a contract for a new, cheaper, but larger and nicer apartment for the rest of our time here in Rexburg, along with the Morco's. We move in the Fall. Hopefully it will be a fun new beginning!

Feelin hot hot HOT!

When people used to tell me that sunshine is statistically proven to make a person happier, I would simply guffaw [I've been sitting on that word for oh a 6 months or so just waiting to use it] at them. But they were right! I woke up with a headache, a recovering, busy husband and I thought this day was gonna be the pits. But lo and behold, the sun was shining and I literally could feel my skin soaking up the rays and rejuvenating me. It now makes sense to me why people say that summer semester is the best-if the weather stays like this, there will be more bbq's, frisbee time, picnics, walks and ice cream cone licking! All of which make people happier! Consider me one of those statistics now!

Also, here is a little tip. Lately, we have been cooking with a lot of chipotles soaked in adobo sauce. LOVE IT. We mainly only use the sauce however because those peppers can pack quite a pretty punch let me tell you. So the other day while trying to separate the sauce from the peppers for the chili I was making, I decided to just use my hands and get as much of the sauce off as I could. This was a mistake. I don't know why I didn't realize that if it burns your throat, it will probably burn your skin-especially if your practically bathing your hands in it. After washing my hands, they proceeded to burn, turn red and swell to about three times there size, and of course, the water just made it worse, as did the lotion I put on to try to stop it. For the next 45 minutes I felt like my hands were going to burn to death. People told me to try to soak them in milk, but I am a cheapskate and didn't want to waste our milk like that. Finally, my dad told me to use dish soap because apparently that eliminates the oils from the peppers which had soaked into my skin. After about 5 sessions of hand washing, they were no longer twice their size and burning as intensely. They were just raw and tingly. So-now you know. If you get oils from spicy peppers on your skin, use dish soap. It will work miracles.

Lastly, as more evidence that it is a great day, I found these videos Lester had recorded from Christmas time that I forgot about and I think they are great! One was before we had gone home, and one was from Christmas morning. Enjoy both these videos and the sunshine!

I'm Not Good At This

Well, I hope for all you mothers out there that this day was FABULOUS-I'm sure you all deserve it, just like the women in my life do! For me, it was a 'mixed bag' kind of a day. When I was 15ish, my strange, but close knit Daly City Ward got dissolved. I was heartbroken. I was in a new building with new people and new everything, and if you know me you know that I don't like new. No thank you, just give me the old, broken in, loved lifestyle and all the things that come with it. For a while, it was a struggle and for the first year of being there I refused to accept that I was a part of this ward and still told people I was from the Daly City ward. Eventually, a boy moved in named Lester, and sufficed to say, things worked out for the better because all these thing happened.

Well. Its happening again. When we first got married, there were a lot of adjustments to make. Like living with a guy, living in a new town and apartment, not coming home for summers, making married friends, etc etc. It took a while, but eventually we made some good friends and I really felt like I was starting to get the hang of things. Then a lot of our friends moved-although I was bummed, I still knew that I had Lester, and we had at least a few other friends here with us. Today, we went to church and SURPRISE they completely changed the ward boundaries, and now we are in a whole different ward, while all our friends who are two buildings away from us are in the same, old ward together.

I know your all probably going to finally see how irrational and ridiculous I am after I say this, but to be honest when they first announced it I was just really really angry. I think it was just a reminder that even when I think I am in control of things, and all is fine and stable, it isn't. I am tired of feeling like I am not in control of anything. I am tired of changing. I am tired of talking to my family a million miles away on the phone while they are all together, where I have been for the past 22 years. I am tired of having to remind myself that the reason I have to spend about 20 hours of the day by myself is because my wonderful husband is working so hard to make a life for us. I am tired of leaving-whether its other people, or me. I am tired of making new friends over and over and over again because the old ones are gone. I AM TIRED OF CHANGING. I don't know why I didn't think my ward would change, and that it would be the only continually stable thing in my life for a while-I guess I just felt like it was my one lifeline to a social life and to not feeling alone all the time. I'm just not good at this.

I peaced out of church early while Lester got all the details about our new ward. I wanted to call my Mom but I knew that as soon as she answered the phone I'd start balling again and not be able to get out the words "I miss you. This is harder then I thought. I feel lost and alone. oh and by the way happy mothers day. sorry I just ruined it." If anything it would just be awkward gasps of me trying to get air in between sobs and Id sound like some creeper prank caller. My friends from home were in church, so I visited an old roommate and just cranked out all the tears I could. It felt good to just let it all out. And after that I wasn't angry anymore-just disappointed and resigned. I have faith that it will be a good change; it has to be. Because only the good things are worth these awful changes. Lester was worth the changes. This will be to I hope.

On a happier note, when I got home my two friends from my ward [well now old ward I guess] were here with muffins and a note telling me that of course we would still hang out all the time-us interracial couples have to stick together here in Rexburg haha. And later that night we made won tons from scratch with the Morco's and played Monopoly Deal. It was a good end to a not so good day.

Life will get better. The sun comes after the storm right? I'm just really ready for some sun.

Goodreads

This semester, I am taking almost all English classes. So far I have loved them! In my Shakespeare class, we have already had what my teacher calls a 'relief society style' potluck breakfast [he said it wasn't elders quorum style, because nobody would bring anything then. HAH!] which was fun. Its been interesting so far!

I am also taking a literary drama class, in which we are studying different types of theatre and plays. We have started with Greek theatre, where much of the entertainment we experience today comes from. So far we have read the Bacchae, and Antigone, both of which are Greek tragedies. After reading these, it makes me wonder what kinda crack they were smoking to be able to come up with these awful and graphic things; its given me a greater appreciation for my knowledge of God -that he is to be loved and followed, not just feared. B/C let me tell ya, if God was how he is in these Greek myths, we would all be in big trouble cuz lets face it, they are vindictive, irresponsible and nuts. But I have high hopes for this class-later we are focusing on more recent things, from Arsenic and Old Lace to stories that make you think like the play Doubt. It should be good.

The other English class I am taking is Young Adult Literature. Initially, I was a little worried. For this class alone, we have to read 30 novels before the class is over. And although I love to read, Young Adult literature is not my favorite, especially current ones. They just seem to all center on the struggles of teens, such as depression, anorexia, peer pressure, drugs and then the more rare problems, like rape and gang warfare. Of course I know that it has its place in our world and can be helpful to some, but I was worried that by the end of each book I would feel like I wanted to cry for days. But so far, I have been totally wrong. Two of the four I have read so far I would like to recommend.

The first is surprisingly a graphic novel called "American Born Chinese". It follows three separate story lines, and then connects them in the end in an incredible, unexpected way, leaving you with a simple, beautiful message. Read it if you can-like I said, its a graphic novel, so it only takes like an hour, but it is an hour well spent!

The second is called "The Adoration of Jenna Fox". Seriously, this book blends so many different genres of writing so seamlessly-it starts out as a coming of age story, but quickly turns into a mystery, along with a level of science fiction and poetry. It is GREAT and it keeps you guessing the whole time. READ IT. It will challenge you, and make you think about things that perhaps you haven't-but ultimately you will walk away feeling grateful for what you have and like it was well worth it.

Now here is my little disclaimer-keep in mind that these ARE young adult books. They are not meant for anyone under the age of 12, and sometimes even above that. With American Born Chinese, it is simple and I could see a kid seeing the pictures and being interested. But there are derogatory racial terms in it, used to add to the story and prove a moral-some young kids may not be able to understand that, unless I suppose the parent were to use it as a teaching moment to show that what is being said is not ok. The second book I mentioned I think is for like late high school or up, simply because of the topic; I myself probably wouldn't have liked it before age 15.

Lastly, I want to turn you guys to an awesome site that can help you if you are ever looking for books to read. It is called goodreads.com and its free. You just make up an account and you are free to explore literally thousands of books. It has basic information and summaries, pictures [if any], and best of all, honest reviews and ratings from people who have read them [both pro critics and just the general public]. You can easily make 'book shelves' of books you want to read, have read, or are currently reading, and you can always add your reviews to others. Being an avid reader, I am seriously now hooked to this site.

Well, this is more then I ever meant to say about my classes or reading. But what can I say-I love it, and I want you guys to feel that love to haha! Until next time!

Our Easter

So. Easter we were both still recovering from colds and what not, so we didn't do much other then sleep, take drugs and visit some friends from home. BUT I did make a pie..just to signify that it WAS a holiday! Even though we didn't get to spend as much time as we would've liked dwelling on it Sunday, we are both grateful beyond words for a Savior who both lived and died for us. Next Easter, we will make sure we have more exciting plans and start making our own Easter traditions!

High Maintenance Sleeping

So apparently Lester is not the only one with slightly frustrating sleeping habits! Last night, after a fun weekend of volleyball and dancing, we headed to bed a little bruised and tired, and both with colds. [What can I say, we play hard haha]. Needless to say we were happy to hit the hay.

After finally getting to sleep, I have strange and vague memories of being in and out. But the only concrete thing I remember is waking up to Lester laughing, and me asking him whats so funny? He then proceeded to ask me several times if I was REALLY awake...by the fifth time I was getting annoyed. He then handed me some limes and said that I had sleep walked. At first I thought he was messing with me, but after thinking about it, I realized that his story made sense.

Apparently, all night I had been tossing and turning and saying things like 'Please help me. PLEASE. Before its to late. I have to get them out. Help me help me.' He tried to wake me up about three times, and each time I guess I would kinda half wake up and respond saying I was fine-then I would start up again two minutes later. Finally, the last time I guess I actually got up-when he asked where I was going I said to get some water. He saw no harm in that and thinking I was awake stayed in bed. But when he heard me opening all the fridge drawers, searching everything, he got up to watch me. I then stumbled back to him, handed him a bag of limes and went back to sleep. He asked me what I had, and I said 'Limes!' all happy. He asked me why I needed limes and I said 'Its the key!' in a 'duhhh' kinda way. The next thing I remember is waking up to his laughing at me.

Earlier that day I had been reading over Little Women where they had talked about how pickled limes were the only thing that could save Amy-of course she was just talking about popularity wise-but I had also been watching Law and Order SVU. These child trafficker's had locked these kids in the basement. I vaguely remember that my nightmare was kind of a hybrid of the two-I was working with Olivia and Elliot to get the kids out of the basement before it was to late. And then I remembered the only thing to get them out was to exchange limes with the neighbor or something who had the key. Luckily, I got them the limes [key limes in fact!] and we saved them and the bad guys got convicted and the world was right again!

I suppose this was a good reminder that everyone has their little quirks-the next time Lester snores [which lets face it will be tonight and every night for the rest of my life] I will just laugh it off and remember that I can be a high maintenance sleeper myself sometimes.